(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for processing silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials and more particularly to a method for processing silver halide color photographic light-sensitive materials which makes it possible to suppress the occurrence of stains generated on non-image portions (hereunder referred to as "white ground") after the processing or over the lapse of time (or during storage) and to enhance the stability of processing solutions.
(2) Prior Art
Heretofore, color developers containing an aromatic primary amine color developing agent have long been employed widely and are presently playing an important role in methods for forming color photographic images. However, such a color developing agent is very likely to undergo oxidation due to the action of air or a metal. Therefore, if a large amount of such a color developing agent remains in a light-sensitive material, it is often observed that undersirable stains are formed thereon after the processing and even in the course of the processing.
Over the years, various studies have been made regarding the suppression of yellow stain mainly due to decomposition of the magenta couplers employed. For instance, it is known that such stains can be suppressed by incorporating in photographic light-sensitive materials a compound such as hydroquinones, hindered phenols, tocopherols, chromans, coumarans and those obtained by etherifying the phenolic hydroxyl groups of these compounds (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,935,016; 3,930,866; 3,700,455; 3,764,337; 3,432,300; 3,573,050 and 4,254,216; U.K. Patent Nos. 2,066,975 and 1,326,889 and Japanese Patent Publication for Opposition Purpose (hereinafter referred to as "J. P. KOKOKU") No. 51-30426).
This method is effective in inhibiting the formation of yellow stains due to the components of the light-sensitive material per se, but it is less effective in preventing the occurrence of stains due to the contamination of the light-sensitive materials with components of processing solutions.
Recently, it has been proposed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,463,085 and 4,483,918 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (hereinafter referred to as "J.P. KOKAI") Nos. 59-218445 and 59-229557, that the use of certain amine type compounds is effective in preventing the occurrence of stains. However, none of these known compounds shows a satisfactory effect.
On the other hand, it is known to add a specific sulfinic acid to processing solutions (see, for instance, J.P. KOKOKU No. 49-33787; U.K. Patent No. 571,078 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,036). However, J.P. KOKOKU No. 49-33787 relates to monochromatic development and the method disclosed in U.K. Patent No. 571,078 is to be applied to silver dyestuff bleaching system. In other word, sulfinic acid is used for a different purpose and these patents do not refer to the stain inhibition of light-sensitive materials at all. Additionally, it was verified that the compounds disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,036 showed no effect of inhibiting stains formed with time. In addition, U.K. Patent No. 1,379,615 discloses the use of sulfinic acids in a bleach-fixing solution to enhance the stability thereof. However, it never refers to the inhibition of stains of color light-sensitive materials.
In recent methods for processing color photographic materials, the light-sensitive materials are generally bleached and fixed subsequent to the color development, and a combined bleaching and fixing bath or a bleaching-fixing bath is widely used, particularly in the processing of print materials so as to symplify the process, to reduce the number of baths and to obtain rapid processing. However, when an iron complex of amino polycarboxylic acid commonly used as a bleaching agent coexists with thiosulfates widely used as a fixing agent, the thiosulfates are oxidized to release elemental sulfur (so-called sulfidation phenomenon) which often leads to the deposition of undersirable substances on color photographic paper and to the occurrence of color stains. A stabilizer such as a sulfite ion source is generally used to solve such a problem, but the effect thereof is insufficient. In addition, OLS No. 2,102,713 discloses the use of aldehyde-bisulfite adducts. However, they cannot suppress the formation of stains with time.
The foregoing phenomenon causes, in addition to the aforesaid problems, another particularly severe problem, i.e., sulfidation of washing water occurs when the amount of a replenisher for water washing and/or stabilization processes after the bleach-fixing process is substantially reduced as disclosed in J.P. KOKAI No. 57-8543 and Japanese Patent Application Serial (hereunder referred to as "J.P.A.") No. 61-131632.